Lydiate loving life in France after bruising summer

The British

& Irish Lions

Tour to New Zealand 2017

Lydiate loving life in France after bruising summer

Dan Lydiate leads out the Lions against the Melbourne Rebels this summer

Inpho

Dan Lydiate may have played a full gruelling 80 minutes in the Heineken Cup at the weekend but the British & Irish Lions flanker admits he is benefiting from the rotation policy in France.

The Welshman left the Newport Gwent Dragons over the summer to sign for Top14 side Racing Metro and has appeared in six games so far this season.

Rested for the last three weeks, Lydiate returned with a bang in his side's 26-26 draw with the Scarlets that leaves them top of their pool.

And the flanker, who was a key part of the successful Lions series in Australia this summer, insists he is much improved for being used more sparingly this season.

"I feel quite fresh, I haven't played in the last three weeks. I'm not being overplayed so it's nice to get 80 minutes under my belt," he told Wales Online. "It's still early days but it's so far so good.

"I've been rested the last three weeks and have been doing my extras after training to make sure I stay in good condition for them.

"Usually I would have played eight games before getting called up but this is about my sixth so even though the season starts earlier, at the moment I have played less games."